Sub Gum Chop Suey from “Mandarin Chop Suey Cook Book” a great piece of 1928 America!
What is Sub Gum Chop Suey?
Written in Chicago, the "Mandarin Chop Suey Cook Book" claims its own authenticity as a translated work of Chinese cuisine. Yet, the book cites no original author of the recipes. What, then, is sub gum chop suey? How is this dish a translation?
A quick online search reveals that:
Sub gum is a type of American Chinese dish in which one or more meats and/or seafood are mixed with vegetables and sometimes also noodles, rice, or soup. The term "sub gum" is Cantonese and means "numerous and varied". (Wiki)
Chop suey is also an American Chinese dish consisting of meat, often chicken, fish, beef, prawns, or pork and eggs, cooked quickly with vegetables such as bean sprouts, cabbage and celery, and bound in a starch-thickened sauce. Its name translates literally to "assorted pieces". (Wiki)
Then, what is sub gum chop suey? A combination of many mixed ingredients?
Sub gum chop suey comes from a mixture of different origins, meanings, and stereotypes lost in translation. Sub gum is a Cantonese term, while chop suey is considered a "Chinese" phrase and the recipe we found is in the "Mandarin Chop Suey Cook Book" . In this way sub gum chop suey represents a lack of understanding of what is "Chinese" or "Asian" in American society.
See, one cookbook CAN reveal much about society!
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